Mercatus Breaks Down Regulatory Impact by State

We all know that regulations have a big negative impact on the economy, and on the lives of everyday people trying to go about their business. The Code of Federal Regulations currently comprises 175,000 pages in 226 volumes, with over a million individual rules. These rules affect the entire country as a whole, but many […]

Regulatory State Threatens Jobs, Wages and Startups

The negative impacts of federal regulations on jobs, wages and innovation was the subject this week of hearings before the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA 49) opened the hearing before the subcommittee on regulatory reform by noting that many in Washington consider the “endless expanding web of intricate [federal] rules” to be natural […]

Recess Appointments: Is the Court in Danger?

With the sudden, unexpected passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, the entire political world is in an uproar over the future of the Supreme Court. Democrats, as is to be expected, want president Obama to push through a nominee before he leaves office in January, fearing that a Republican victory in the presidential election will cost […]

New CBO Deficit Projections: Running Out of Road for that Can We're Kicking

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released its updated budget projections, and there’s no sugar-coating the numbers. The federal government’s annual budget deficits were already slated to start rising again in 2016, but thanks to some discouraging economic growth predictions and a bloated budget deal that added tens of billions in new spending, we’re now […]

Congress Must Defend the Budget Caps This Fall

Members of Congress are all back home for their August recess, and all is quiet on Capitol Hill – for now. But don’t be fooled; this is merely the calm before the storm that is coming in September, when Congress returns and has to pass a bill to fund the government by October 1st. With […]

20 States Raise Minimum Wage; Pain for the Poor and Young to Follow

“[T]here’s a virtual consensus among economists that the minimum wage is an idea whose time has passed. Raising the minimum wage by a substantial amount would price working poor people out of the job market.” “A higher minimum would undoubtedly raise the living standard of the majority of low-wage workers who could keep their jobs. […]

Once Again, the Establishment Cries Foul Over a Stand for Principle

The "CRomnibus" government funding bill passed handily last weekend, but not before Senators Lee and Cruz had their say. In a controversial move, the two senators managed to put their colleagues on record voting for or against funding President Obama’s latest unconstitutional executive power grab. Many Republican senators, however, protest too much, claiming that Lee […]

The Common Law Advantage

Without question, the U.S. legal system, from the structure and operations of the judicial branch to the governing laws of the nation, was founded in the common law legal tradition. Common law, for those unfamiliar with the concept, is law that develops organically over time and is based on the accepted customs and shared values of a society. More specific to its history, common law was developed in England as it emerged from the Middle Ages, where the legal systems of the disparate regions were united by royal decrees and the decisions of judges based not on the wisdom of the given monarch or judge, but on previous decisions made in other legal cases.